About 45 thousand children are in militarized organizations in the occupied Crimea

In the occupied Crimea, about 45 thousand children are in the “Yunarmiya” and other organizations related to Russian patriotic education. This was stated by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to International Organizations in Vienna Yevhen Tsymbaliuk during a speech at the opening of the Warsaw Conference on the OSCE Human Dimension, a Krym.Realii correspondent reports.

In his speech, Tsymbaliuk    emphasized the deportation of children, the use of torture, the imprisonment of civilians, and the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian soldiers. He emphasized that at least 62 such cases have been recorded. In total, according to the diplomat, Ukrainian law enforcement officers have documented about 143,000 crimes related to Russian military aggression.

As a reminder, since 2016, a children’s and youth military-patriotic movement called “Yunarmiya” has been operating in the occupied Crimea, created by the Russian Ministry of Defense. This organization was founded to spread propaganda among children and adolescents in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine. The movement teaches children the basics of military training and instills loyalty to the Russian regime.

The Russian authorities do not hide the fact that the involvement of minors in such structures can be used in the future to participate in the Russian-Ukrainian war. This is another step in the militarization of young people in the occupied territories, which violates international children’s rights.